Never Before Never Again
by dreamsofyesterday1
Summary: What happens when Sportacus is too late saving someone? Warnings character death, sad themes, unlikely friendships and may be quite long. Rated T to be safe
1. Chapter 1

Never Before, Never Again

He held her body in his arms. She was still warm as her skin touched his. Hot tears rolled down his cheeks as a hard, gnawing guilt welled up inside of him. As he looked down at her limp form and unspoilt features he heard sounds but all of them were incoherent and he was only aware of what he'd done. The rain fell over them both but only one of them could feel it.

The day had started so well, the weather was the best they'd had all summer in Lazy Town. The kids had been playing, laughing, singing and dancing for most of the day enjoying the weather thoroughly. Sportacus was in his airship doing some small repairs to the airship which needed to be done periodically. After they had exhausted Football, Baseball and Basketball they moved on to climbing trees. Each chose a tree to climb and were going to race each other to see who could reach the top of their tree the fastest. The tree Stephanie chose was taller than the tress the other kids had chosen. She was unsure if she'd be able to climb it as she wasn't as good at climbing trees as the others and had a disliking for heights. Not wanting to lose face in front of her friends she started to climb.

After a little while she made it to the top of the tree not long after Trixie, Pixel, and Stingy with Ziggy following closely behind her. She admired the view of the town and then it happened – she looked down

She became dizzy

_Sportacus' crystal glowed signalling trouble_

She began to tremble all her muscles contracting with fear

_Sportacus grabbed his telescope to see where the location of the trouble was_

The ground seemed to shake beneath her and her grip on the branch she had rested on began to fail

_Sportacus ran and grabbed his 'scarf rope' and exited the door of the airship to swing down and catch Stephanie_

She let go of the tree

_He swung_

She fell

_He was too late._

Before he could catch her she hit the ground, it had only taken a split second for these events to happen. Events that would change the inhabitant's of Lazy town's lives forever.

Sportacus rushed to Stephanie instantly, sheer agony filling him inside with an extreme feeling of dread. He was too late. He knelt down beside her, she wasn't moving. He brushed her hair from her face and whispered her name but there was no answer save a slight exhalation of air. The other kids rushed over when they had realised what had happened and had managed to get themselves down from their trees quickly. The expressions on their faces were a mix of concern and confusion; they stood close to the pair on the ground and tried to see what was happening.

Sportacus knew better than to move Stephanie after such a fall but he couldn't help himself, she had to be ok. He cradled her head in his lap and slowly she opened her eyes, they were clouded with pain and weren't open very wide.

"Oh Stephanie, I'm so sorry I didn't get to you in time. You'll be ok, we'll get a Doctor and everything will be fine." Sportacus' words were spoken with a strain which is only associated with trying to hold back tears.

He wouldn't cry in front of them, everything would be ok. Stephanie tried to whisper something in response but she was so weak all that came out was another exhalation of air. The world was growing dark around her and the face of the man looking down at her was becoming distorted. She felt as if she wanted to sleep and the more the feeling went on the less she could resist it.

Just as Stephanie had closed her eyes Mayor Meanswell and Bessie came running over. Pixel had left the group to run over to the main hall to tell them of the accident and they'd come straight away. They were too late. The Mayor slowly walked over to see his niece, she wasn't moving and he never took his eyes from her.

"Stephanie?" The Mayor's voice faltered and he couldn't say anymore.

His eyes had caught sight of a small red puddle where Stephanie had fallen. He knelt down next to Stephanie and seemingly ignored Sportacus. He traced with his eyes the trail of red that ran from the ground where the puddle was to Sportacus' lap. He reached over to feel the back of Stephanie's head dreading what he'd see when he pulled his hand back. Very slowly he pulled his hand away, he could feel the wet on it and a gasp left his lips when he saw how bloody his hand was.

The sight of the blood had spurred him into action and he ordered Bessie to call a Doctor. He began to whisper to Stephanie to stay awake and not close her eyes. Tears began to well up in his eyes and he whispered the same words over and over again.

She was aware of sounds around her but they were too quiet to hear. The feel of the arms holding her became less and less. Her eyes began to close as the tiredness overcame her, she couldn't fight anymore.

Sportacus felt Stephanie's body go limp in his arms before her eyes closed for the final time. The feelings that had been welling up inside had increased three fold with the arrival of guilt and the realisation that he had failed to save one of the most precious people he had met. He couldn't take his eyes from her face and the world around him became dim. He was no longer aware of anything around him.

Rain started to fall and the Mayor shakily stood up. It was too late for anything to be done and he felt a need to lie down. The Doctor arrived but the Mayor just walked straight past him leaving both him and Bessie confused. When they looked over to Sportacus and Stephanie their questions were answered, they were too late.

He couldn't take his eyes from her face; he couldn't stop the tears that flowed down his and the sobs that racked his body. He felt a very slight touch on his shoulder but it hardly registered to him.

The Doctor knelt down putting his hand on Sportacus' shoulder for support as he looked at the young girl. He recognised Stephanie and was astonished that she hadn't been saved but that would be questioned later. He had to attend to Stephanie and see if he could yet rekindle the fire of life inside her.

The rain continued pouring. Sportacus was dimly aware that his arms were now empty. He didn't feel the pain from the cramps in legs from kneeling so long nor did he feel the rain or anything apart from the guilt inside him.

"How long are you going to sit there in the rain Sportakook? If you stay there any longer you'll either turn to stone or melt." The familiar voice of Robbie Rotten entered his head as no other voice had since the incident had happened.

"Well?" Came an impatient rebuke from Robbie.

He was sick of standing there in the rain and was starting to get cold. He'd come up from his underground lair to see why everything was so quiet, it was unusual for there to be hardly any noise and his curiosity had been aroused. It was with great surprise that he'd watched Stephanie's limp form being moved into an ambulance and a sheet being placed over her head. It didn't take much to guess what had happened after seeing Sportacus on the ground seemingly comatose, the blood was also a fairly big clue. With the crowd dispersing and even more surprisingly no one attending to Sportacus, Robbie thought he'd do his good deed for the decade and help him.


	2. Chapter 2

Stiffly Sportacus turned round and looked up at Robbie, his eyes red from the tears he'd cried. He slowly noticed that everyone had gone except for the figure in a purple and red striped rain coat standing with his hands on his hips. He painfully started to get up but his leg muscles resisted after being cramped for so long. As they became more stretched they began to tremble and Sportacus fell to the ground unable to maintain his balance on such shaky legs. Robbie would have laughed at such a display but somewhere deep down he felt sorry for the 'Blue Elf', a great and acrobatic man reduced to a weeping lump that couldn't stand. Stubbornly he walked over to Sportacus and held out his hand to help the other man up as further attempts at standing were met with the same failure and he was getting bored watching him hit the ground.

"Thanks," said Sportacus, his voice wavering slightly. He felt tired and drained and just needed to get away from that awful place where the accident had happened.

"You're welcome. Now, are we going to get out of this rain or are we going to stand here until we catch our deaths?" Robbie caught the word just as it left his mouth; he knew it wasn't the right thing to say after such a situation.

He could see by the look on the younger man's face that he felt very badly for what had happened and mentally kicked himself, he kicked himself again for realising that he should have been glad about getting one over on Sportacus. After mentally kicking himself several times for several different things he began to walk towards his lair, he bade the younger man follow him. Surprisingly Sportacus didn't resist, he felt too weak to climb up his airship and didn't want to be alone even if it meant that his company was Robbie Rotten.

The journey from the town to Robbie's lair was passed in silence, neither man wishing to speak nor having anything to say. Sportacus was lost in his thoughts of what had happened and what he'd done wrong; Robbie was yet again mentally kicking himself for inviting the 'Blue Elf' into his home. They reached the billboard and Robbie opened the door and motioned for Sportacus to go through before he did. Sportacus waited for Robbie to ascend the ladder before he did as he knew where he was going.

After a rather bumpy ride down the pipes to Robbie's lair both men hit the ground rolling over each other before coming to a stop. "CLUMSY -" Robbie stopped himself from saying the second word. He knew that shouting insults would come to nothing and he didn't have the energy to either. Once again he helped Sportacus up from the ground hoping the gesture would apologise for the outburst, the 'Blue Elf' didn't need to be made to feel bad; he felt bad enough already.

"You, uh, want something to eat? I'm sure I have some healthy stuff around here somewhere." Robbie began to search for the afore mentioned food without waiting for a response to his question.

Whatever the response was likely to be Robbie knew Sportacus had to eat something as he was looking fairly peaky. After a little more searching Robbie came upon a Banana he had kept aside to experiment on and trying to see what properties it had. He turned around and saw that Sportacus was standing in the exact same place he'd been left and by the looks of him he wouldn't have received an answer to his previous question as Sportacus was yet again lost in thought.

"Hello? Is anybody in there?" Robbie asked knocking on Sportacus' head like he would a door.

Sportacus was roused back into reality and looked at the Banana in Robbie's hand guessing it was for him, he shook his head to refuse it but found it thrust into his hand.

"Eat it, my guess is you haven't eaten much recently and need something before you drop. Once you've eaten that it might be an idea to get out of those wet clothes, you're leaving a puddle. I'm sure I have a disguise that resembles your clothes somewhere, I'll dig it out as you have nothing else to wear" said Robbie yet again leaving Sportacus to go and find the disguise he'd mentioned pausing only to remove his rain coat and grimace at the wet floor.

Sportacus slowly peeled the Banana and began to eat it grateful for the sustenance; he was also still confused as to Robbie allowing him such kindness. Unconsciously he shrugged his shoulders; he had no idea why Robbie was being so nice. If there would be anyone to have left him out in the rain or laugh at him for not managing to stand it would have been him, why would Robbie do all this for him? Sportacus was disturbed from his reverie by a light tap on the shoulder; he started at the unexpected touch.

"Why so jumpy Sportakook? It's only me and you down here; at least I hope it is…." Robbie glanced around nervously as if expecting someone or something to jump out at them from nowhere.

After he assured himself that there was no one else there and chastising himself for being silly he handed over a blue and white uniform identical to Sportacus' own save for the wetness and the crystal that didn't work.

"Here try it on for size. It should fit you as I think we're fairly matched for shape and size,"

"Thanks Robbie," Sportacus proceeded to look about him for a private corner where he could change but found none, he looked to Robbie for clarification.

"Oh," Robbie looked about also for some private spot where Sportacus could change from one uniform to the other, "I know, I'll go over to the periscope and look at what's happening on the surface while you change. I won't peek at you I promise,"

Doing as he promised Robbie walked over to the periscope and busied himself trying to find something to look at despite the foul weather and poor visibility.

Meanwhile at the Mayor's house Bessie was trying to comfort the Mayor. She'd found him lying in bed with his clothes on evidently trying to sleep. She'd found this odd behaviour but he'd just lost his niece and was in shock the incident having sunk in far too quickly. She sat on the edge of the bed hoping her presence would comfort him if only a small amount, it seemed to do some good as he grasped her hand and held it while trying to capture sleep. Sleep would make it good, sleep would clarify things, perhaps when he woke up he would find out that what had had happened was just a terrible nightmare and would see Stephanie bounding over to the kitchen to drink a quick cup of juice before going to play. Subconsciously he nodded; Stephanie was alive and would be there for breakfast. He'd watch her leave the house to play with her friends and everything would be ok.

"I'm done Robbie," Sportacus called softly.

The trousers were a little bit long for him but otherwise the uniform was a perfect fit. He was glad of some dry clothes and the company. He still felt incredibly guilty for what had happened to Stephanie but amazingly having Robbie Rotten being kind to him took the edge off of it a bit. Robbie pulled his gaze from the periscope and rubbed his eyes, trying to see through all that rain had strained his vision and made his eyes sore.

"Are you ok?" Sportacus asked concerned about Robbie rubbing his eyes quite hard and continually blinking as if trying to clear his vision.

"Yes I'm fine; my eyes are just tired that's all." Robbie stopped rubbing his eyes and went over to his disguise machine; he didn't need to go through them all to decide which he needed now.

With the pull of a lever and a swirl of white, red and purple Robbie was in his pyjamas.

"Now," he said looking around, "who's going to sleep where? I only have my orange chair here in the way of furniture so someone will have to sleep on the floor," Robbie desperately wanted to sleep in his chair but the floor would suffice this once should the 'Blue Elf' take the chair.

"It's ok Robbie, I'll sleep on the floor and you take the chair." Sportacus offered kindly.

Robbie had done enough for him today and he didn't want to push his patience further, he still didn't feel up to going back up to his airship. Without a moment's hesitation Robbie swooped down onto the chair like an eagle and went straight to sleep.

Sportacus shook his head and a ghost of a smile touched his lips, "Night Robbie," he whispered and settled himself down on a dry patch of floor and tried to sleep, he eventually found sleep and slept somewhat fitfully despite his tiredness.


	3. Chapter 3

The Mayor awoke to the smell of pancakes. He ran into the kitchen expecting Stephanie to be the one cooking them but instead found Bessie there. All the events of the past day hit him at the sight of her and he stifled a sob. Bessie instantly noticing the struggle that went on inside of him went over and hugged him hard, she kissed his cheek and led him to a chair to sit down.

"It's ok, I know what you're going through," Bessie whispered stroking the Mayor's shoulder.

Unbeknownst to many of the inhabitants of Lazy Town Bessie had lost her husband some years before coming to the town. She had kept the title 'Mrs' and her last name out of respect for him. She knew exactly what the Mayor was going through and was the best person to help him out of it. He was her friend and he reminded her a great deal of her late husband and she wanted to do all she could for him. Both of them knew that the next couple of weeks if not years was going to be a tough time for everyone as they tried to come to terms with the death of such a well loved member or their community.

"So you're awake at last?" Robbie said as Sportacus sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

Sportacus remembered all to well what had happened the day before and had hardly slept.

"I took the liberty of going up to the surface to find you something to eat, there's no more fruit here and I know you don't eat cake. I hope an Apple and an Orange are sufficient," Robbie handed over the two fruits and Sportacus nodded his thanks.

He was aware that Robbie had gone up to the surface before being told, he'd been pretending to sleep and used the time that Robbie had been away to release his emotions. He'd sobbed for some time and hearing Robbie coming down the pipes laid himself back down and pretended to still be sleeping. His pretence had almost come to an abrupt halt when Robbie barely missed hitting him as he shot out of the pipe and landed in his chair, thankfully he'd managed to hold his nerve and hadn't moved.

He started with the Orange and then went on to the Apple. The 'sports candy' was most welcome to his stomach and he watched as Robbie helped himself to a large portion of cake. Sportacus noticed that Robbie and gotten Sportacus' breakfast before making himself some, 'perhaps he isn't so bad after all' Sportacus thought to himself yet again surprised by Robbie's kindness. Robbie picked up on Sportacus' confusion and thought it time to explain his reasons for helping him,

"I know what you're thinking. You're confused about why I would you when normally I'd be trying to devise some way of making you leave Lazy Town and try to get rid of you forever. The answer is I'm not sure myself why I'm doing this for you. I guess deep down somewhere I feel sorry for you, after all, I know what it's like to be the outcast of the town. Shunned by everyone for being who you are or doing what you do. It gets lonely down here underground. It's why I have the periscope so I can see what is going on and see what things I can meddle in. I enjoy my peace and quiet and solitude to a degree but after a while my own presence to myself becomes oppressive."

"So you take your loneliness out on me and the kids and try to get rid of me, why?" Sportacus interrupted, in some small way he could see where Robbie was coming from.

"Because you're always so happy and well liked. Everyone likes Sportacus; perhaps with you gone everyone would eventually like me more."

"If you forced me to leave no one would like you. If you worked with me instead of against me things would be different for you."

"Would they? You forget one thing Sportakook, after what happened yesterday I should think you'd be as popular as me. I think they call that bitter irony, after all these years of trying to get rid of you and make people dislike you I didn't have to do anything at all, you did it all yourself!" Robbie spoke with rising anger, his indignation had been sparked and his patience worn out thoroughly.

Sportacus didn't know what to do. As much as they hurt, Robbie's words were true. He had turned people against himself without help. He got up from the floor and began to walk over to the pipes with the intention of going up to the surface; he believed that Robbie would tolerate him no longer. He was just about to jump into the pipe when he heard heart wrenching sobs coming from behind him. It took a moment for him to believe what he was hearing, Robbie Rotten crying? It didn't seem real. He turned and saw Robbie bent over clutching his small blanket and shaking with the sobs that overtook him.

Slowly Sportacus walked over to him, his own pain seemingly unimportant at this moment in time, he reached Robbie's chair and placed himself on one arm of it. Carefully Sportacus touched Robbie's shoulder with his hand in an effort to comfort him; he was rewarded with a hit in the ribs. Taking the hint for just a second Sportacus got up but thought better of leaving the older man alone in his grief and sat on the arm of the chair again. Once again he placed his hand on Robbie's shoulder and this time there was no retaliation, in fact Robbie seemed grateful for the touch and rested his head on Sportacus' arm.

After eating a rather poorly sized breakfast the Mayor took Bessie's advice and called the Hospital to arrange a time to see Stephanie's body. Seeing her one last time before she was committed to the ground of the local cemetery would help in some measure with closure for the Mayor. He wished fervently that he wouldn't see or meet Sportacus for a while, every time he thought of that man he became angry. He had liked and even admired Sportacus but now the very thought or mention of that name turned his grief for Stephanie into anger over her death. It was Sportacus' fault that she was gone and he would never forgive him. Sportacus had never been late in saving someone before; perhaps he had done it on purpose to spite him. Yes that was it, Sportacus had done it deliberately. After seeing Stephanie he would make arrangements for Sportacus to leave Lazy Town forever. Once he had put together and signed the right documents he would have Bessie deliver them, if he did it himself he would harm Sportacus and hurt him badly, he didn't want that just then.

Stingy, Trixie, Ziggy and Pixel were just making their way over to the Mayor's house to offer they're condolences when he was just on his way out. They had been tremendously shocked by what had happened to Stephanie but each felt the Mayor's feelings came principally before their own. After a hurried and seemingly impatient greeting the Mayor departed for the Hospital. Bessie explained where the Mayor was going and apologised for his abruptness whilst also adding that the Mayor wasn't quite himself today. With a despondent nod from each child they left and wandered around not feeling quite up to playing anything.

"Feeling better?" Sportacus asked Robbie after he had stopped crying.

Robbie nodded weakly and got up, he didn't know quite what to say. He had spoken the words of anger to Sportacus as they knew they were true but his pride would not accept it. He hadn't meant to say what he had said but his anger had been roused by the pain the truth of those words caused. He felt slightly embarrassed that he had cried so openly in front of the one person he had despised more than anything else. He hadn't expected nor wanted the comfort from Sportacus and had hit out but the second time it was offered he couldn't refuse it, he needed someone with him. Sportacus remained on the arm of the chair sitting in silence waiting for Robbie to make the first move.

"You, er," Robbie cleared his throat before speaking again, "You must be hungry; it's been a little while since breakfast. The only problem is that I have nothing to give you,"

"That's okay Robbie; I can go and get something from my airship. I guess I should go up there sometime and give you some peace. I can come back when I've eaten something if you want me to?" Sportacus hoped that Robbie would say yes to his offer of coming back, he still needed the company.

Robbie was about to shake his head to the offer but changed his mind, "You can come back if you want to. You must get as lonely up there as I do down here. Come back when you're ready to. Be quiet about it though, I shall be having my nap after lunch and hate it being disturbed."

Sportacus nodded his agreement and made his way up the pipes, pausing for a moment to listen for anymore sobs but hearing none. After a little while he came to the surface. Just as he reached town he saw Ziggy, Pixel, Stingy and Trixie walking. He tried to avoid being seen but Trixie spotted him before he could hide, he felt ashamed that he had made them lose their closest friend.

"Hey Bluey!" Called Trixie her anger at seeing Sportacus rising, "I want a word with you!"


	4. Chapter 4

She ran over to him and gave him a sharp and painful kick in the leg. Her anger reaching boiling point she began punching Sportacus in the stomach over and over, her fury fuelling her violence. She hated him, she hated him. Sportacus didn't retaliate to what Trixie was doing; he let her carry on venting her anger. He deserved it after all; it was his fault her friend had died.

Eventually with all her anger spent Trixie sank to the ground in floods of tears, the anger that had risen so quickly and burned so harshly had left her feeling devastated inside. Sportacus painfully lowered himself down and held Trixie as she cried. Stingy, Ziggy and Pixel just stood in silence and watched the scene. They were astonished that Sportacus had done nothing to hurt or even hold off Trixie even though she was laying into him, they were even more astonished that Sportacus held her when her anger and violence had ceased. Both Stingy and Pixel weren't sure what to think of Sportacus, half of them said that what had happened to Stephanie wasn't his fault and other half said it was. Ziggy believed that it wasn't Sportacus' fault entirely, he hadn't accepted easily the fact that not even Sportacus could save everyone. It had all happened so quickly that no one could have done anything.

After Trixie had done crying Sportacus helped her up. She began to apologise but Sportacus shook his head indicating that there was no need for it. Trixie nodded her head to agree even though she would have felt better if she'd been allowed to apologise. Sportacus started to walk until he was closer to his airship, as he passed the three boys he nodded.

"Ladder!" He called when he was underneath the airship and with one last look at the four children he ascended the ladder.

Once in the airship he looked around, it was still in a mess from his half done repairs. Robbie was right, Sportacus did get lonely up in his airship sometimes. It sounded bad but he was glad when the kids needed saving as he could come down to help them. He liked playing with them when they didn't need rescuing but it wasn't the same.

Sportacus lowered his bed and sat on it grunting pain when his stomach resisted, he lifted his shirt and saw the multitude of bruises on his stomach where Trixie had punched. For a small girl she had done a lot of damage. Noticing the state of his stomach he thought it would be a good idea to look at his leg. There was a large bruise on his shin where Trixie had kicked him but it wasn't as bad as the bruises on his stomach. He had only realised how much his stomach really hurt when he had sat down and tears formed in his eyes, he fought them and went to make himself some lunch but not before grunting in pain from standing up again.

After eating a couple of apples he emptied the contents of his fruit dispenser into a bag, he'd need his own supplies if he was staying with Robbie for a while. He also put some clean uniforms into the bag and other essential bits and pieces. Once this job was down he climbed back down the ladder and much more carefully than usual for fear of hurting his stomach anymore.

"WHAT ARE _YOU_ DOING HERE?" A voice bellowed from nowhere, Sportacus turned and saw the Mayor stalking up to him his face red with rage.

The shout had come from him and Sportacus began to stand his ground, he had hoped he wouldn't see the Mayor for a while. Sportacus was not the only to hear the shout and Bessie came running out of the Mayor's house not wanting a confrontation between the two. Before anyone knew it the Mayor was right in front of Sportacus and had landed a hard square punch into his Stomach. Sportacus doubled in pain and retched from the punch as his stomach convulsed. The Mayor was about to land another blow on Sportacus but his fist was stopped by a hand which was connected to a red and purple arm.

The Mayor's anger evaporated straight away and was replaced by complete puzzlement at the sight. 'Robbie Rotten defending Sportacus?' The Mayor thought. His face reflected his confusion and he opened his hand, the grip on his wrist loosened and he drew his hand away.

Without another word or look he turned walked towards his house with Bessie close behind, she was just as confused by what had just happened. Sportacus looked up at Robbie his hands clutching his stomach. He was going to thank Robbie but saw that he was too occupied with staring daggers at the Mayor's retreating back. Once the Mayor was out of sight Robbie looked down at Sportacus who was still looking up at him a look of gratitude on his face despite his eyes showing the confusion that everyone seemed to share. He'd never known Robbie to defend anyone except himself and didn't know he had it in him.

Without a word Robbie offered his hand to Sportacus again, Sportacus took it and shakily stood up again but this time it was from the pain in his stomach not from the cramps in his legs. Once Robbie had helped Sportacus up he turned back the way he had come and headed for home, Sportacus picked up his bag and followed.

Once back in his house the Mayor sat down heavily on a kitchen chair and sighed, shaking his head. He didn't know Robbie had defended Sportacus, were they in league together now? No, Sportacus would never turn his back on being active and wouldn't be bad like Robbie. Perhaps Robbie was the one that had changed and was becoming good, this was almost as unlikely as Sportacus changing but it made more sense.

He was startled slightly by a plate with a sandwich on it being placed in front of him on the table. He looked up and saw Bessie there; she smiled slightly and sat next to him with her own sandwich. For a while nothing was said between the two, they just concentrated on eating.

Once the Mayor had finished his sandwich he pushed the plate away a little bit and put his hands on the table, "its strange isn't it? I've been turning it over and over in my head but I just figure out why Robbie Rotten of all people would defend Sportacus." The Mayor looked at Bessie to see what she thought about it.

"I agree it is strange," She began, "but perhaps Sportacus just needs a friend right now. As unlikely a friend as Robbie is I think they're suited to each other in some way."

"How?" The Mayor asked confused.

"Well, in a way they're both outcasts now, Robbie, because he's so mean and Sportacus because of what happened to Stephanie."

"I guess"

"Maybe in some way Robbie just took pity on Sportacus. I noticed Trixie attacking him earlier."

"Trixie? Attacking Sportacus?"

"Yes. She saw him when she was walking with the others and ran up to him and kicked and punched him. She was really laying into him with the punches but he did nothing to stop her."

For a reason unknown to him the Mayor felt a pang of guilt for punching Sportacus. The punch hadn't been hard enough to make him double in pain but if he'd known Sportacus had been punched before he may not have done it. He thought on where the pang of guilt had come from, Sportacus had been his friend and after what had happened perhaps he still was. The Mayor was still angry with him and punching Sportacus had made him feel better as his anger had been released a bit. He thought on what he would do next; did he want to make Sportacus leave after all? Who would save the inhabitants of Lazy Town with Sportacus gone? He would hold off on signing the papers until he had calmed down some more and perhaps spoken with Sportacus, he'd have more idea of what to do then.

"I saw that Tricky kid punching you earlier," Came Robbie's voice from across the room. Sportacus was sitting in the orange chair and Robbie was looking through his periscope.

Sportacus guessed that Robbie had known about the Mayor punching him by watching through it, little did he know that Robbie had been on his way to pay Trixie a little visit about punching Sportacus.

"Trixie," came a reply to Robbie's comment.

"What?"

"Her name's Trixie not Tricky."

"Whatever." Robbie shrugged his shoulders and raised the periscope; there was no one around and nothing to look at.

Seeing Robbie come away from the periscope Sportacus stood up to let Robbie have his chair back but Robbie shook his head.

"I have a small surprise for you. Instead of taking a nap while you were away I made this," Robbie walked down the steps and over to a thing covered with a sheet, he took the sheet up and underneath it was a crude looking bed.

"It didn't take long to put together, I had most of the material from some old inventions I haven't used for a while. I thought it would be better for you sleeping on this than the floor." Robbie said indicating the bed.

Sportacus didn't know what to say, he just nodded his thanks and went over to the bed to test it out. When he sat down it squeaked a little but it was comfortable, he guessed that the mattress was made of and filled with old disguises and he was right.

"It's nice, thank you Robbie. If you want to take you nap now I'll be quiet, I might do some exercises as I haven't done some for the last couple of days but I won't disturb you." Sportacus said with pure gratitude.

Without further invitation Robbie sat in his chair and fell right to sleep. Sportacus smiled and shook his head. Robbie's companionship had made a world of difference to the last day, he felt better about what had happened the day before. He still felt guilty but not as guilty as he had done. The Mayor's and Trixie's attacks had also helped; it was punishment he felt he deserved. Instead of doing exercises he sat and thought about what he would do after what had happened to Stephanie.


	5. Chapter 5

He thought about leaving but where would he go? For the past couple of years Lazy Town had been his home and he could think of nowhere else to go. He thought of staying but would the Mayor allow it? Would the kids want him to stay? How long would Robbie put up with him? He also thought about whether or not he'd be able to save anyone again, his confidence in his ability had been shaken badly by his not being able to save Stephanie. Would the same thing happen again? He pondered these things for a while, such a long while in fact that when Robbie awoke from his nap Sportacus was still sitting in the same place he had been when he'd gone to sleep and didn't seem to have moved.

"Something on your mind Sporta-?" Robbie was about to say 'kook' but thought better of it for once, "-Cus"

Sportacus looked up roused from his reverie by hearing Robbie actually call him by his proper name rather than 'Sportakook' or 'Blue Elf' or other manifestations that Robbie had come up with. Sportacus shook his head to indicate he'd done thinking what he'd been thinking. Robbie nodded back, he knew Sportacus had been thinking but wouldn't push the issue, it would just end up with him losing his temper at Sportacus again and he wasn't in the mood for an argument anyway.

The pair sat in silence for a little longer, neither knowing what to say. A little bored with the silence and hungry Robbie went to fetch himself some cake. Sportacus got some fruit out of his bag as he too was hungry but had only realised it when Robbie got himself something to eat. Both men sat in silence yet again to eat after sitting back in their respective positions. The silence was broken by a loud clattering coming from the pipes.

"What the - ?" Robbie began but stopped when Ziggy flew out of the pipe, Sportacus caught him before he hit the ground.

"Thanks Sportacus," Ziggy said breathlessly.

Sportacus set the boy back on his feet and waited for him to get his breath back and say whatever he wanted to say. Robbie frowned at the unwanted intruder but said nothing and stomped over to the periscope leaving the two friends alone,

"_KIDS!_" he muttered under his breath.

"Oh, Sportacus, I tried sending mail to your airship but you didn't come so I guessed you weren't there. I didn't know where else you would be so I tried here. If you weren't here I was going to ask Robbie if he could use his periscope to try and find you. If he couldn't find you I was going to get myself in trouble so you would come and rescue me." Ziggy explained rather quickly, "I just wanted to find you to say that I don't blame you for what happened and I don't want you to leave, please don't leave!"

Ziggy added sounding more and more panicked the more he said. Touched by what Ziggy had said and the fact that Ziggy had risked Robbie's wrath to come and find him Sportacus bent down and hugged him. Robbie found the whole scene rather nauseating and was struggling to keep his cake in his stomach; he hoped the sissy exchange would be over soon.

"You needn't worry Ziggy, I won't leave. Thanks for caring and saying it wasn't my fault." Sportacus hoped he wouldn't have to leave and was truly grateful for what Ziggy had said.

He released Ziggy from the hug and stood up. Ziggy turned to go back up the pipes but stopped short, he turned back round to Sportacus and without saying anything Sportacus knew what he wanted and helped him up into the pipe.

"Thank mercy for that, if he hadn't had left when he did this place wouldn't have been as tidy as it is at the moment. How can you stand it?" Robbie grumbled, he grimaced again at the memory and decided that cake would make him feel better.

"Perhaps it's because I'm not rotten," Sportacus answered plainly.

He expected some kind of retaliation or reaction from Robbie but didn't get one except for a shrug of the shoulders. Robbie was too busy making a cake with the cake machine to really do much else and enjoyed being called rotten; after all it was his name.

"So," Robbie turned round to face Sportacus and continued, "Are you going to stay? If you do stay what are going to do with yourself?"

"I don't know. It's something I have to think about and perhaps discuss with the Mayor; after all it's his town." Sportacus shrugged.

He wanted to avoid another confrontation, his stomach did too. Perhaps after a good night's sleep he would know what he wanted to do, the problem was his sleep the previous night had been anything but good. He was haunted by visions about what had happened and Stephanie's face peering up at him. In one particular vision she blamed him for her death and said she would never forgive him. This particular vision haunted him the most. He looked up at the crooked clock on the wall and realised it was actually quite late, the time read 7.58pm. Robbie turned to look at the clock and noticed that it was almost time for Sportacus to sleep. After finishing his cake Robbie thought of sleeping also but would go see the Mayor first, he wanted to speak to him.

It was half past eight when the knock came at the door. The Mayor and Bessie had been talking for quite a while after eating dinner and were surprised to see how the time had passed. They were more surprised by who the person at the door was.

"Can I come in? I won't stay long. All I want to do is talk." The familiar figure of Robbie Rotten said. Shaking off his confusion the Mayor motioned Robbie to come inside and closed the door once he had entered.

"What do you want to talk about?" Bessie asked defensively not sure what Robbie really wanted.

"It's about Sportakook, er, I mean Sportacus. I think he wants to come and talk to you himself but I doubt he will, he's probably too worried about getting punched again." Robbie directed a level glance at the Mayor when he said the last words.

Looking down the Mayor replied, "What does he want to talk about?"

"Whether he should stay or go I guess. If he stays what does he do? He if goes where does he go? Can he still be a hero or will you find something for him to do?"

"These are all questions I've asked myself Robbie. As upset as I am over what happened to Stephanie part of me can't trust Sportacus with people's lives anymore but another part wants me to. Do I give him a second chance and watch him waste it by failing again? I can't make a decision yet, perhaps I never will."

"Surely you know that people can't get things right all the time. You can't save everyone all of the time. Sportacus was on his way, he was swinging down and was just a split second late for catching Stephanie. It's not as if he watched her fall and the guy is suffering right now. He doesn't know how much but I do, I can see it in him. For the last day or two he hasn't flipped, ran, jumped, somersaulted or anything. He sits still rather than doing all his moves. He walks like you and me instead of flipping and flying all over the place. What's worse is he's staying with me and seems to be enjoying it; I think I'm even starting to like him. If you're worried about what the kids will think about him staying I'm sure Tricky won't object and that little candy kid wants him to stay. He even said that I couldn't find Sportacus when he was looking for him he'd get himself in trouble so Sportacus would save him," Robbie drew several deep breaths after his small speech, he couldn't believe he was defending Sportacus again and had even admitted to almost liking him.

The Mayor and Bessie were equally shocked and after some minutes of silence from the three the Mayor agreed to take into consideration what Robbie had said and would give him an answer the next day. Robbie agreed and showed himself out of the house and headed back to his lair. He wanted to sleep and would be glad of sitting down. If the Mayor couldn't come up with a resolution to the matter of what would be done with Sportacus Robbie would have to take matters into his own hands and one of his most brilliant plans yet was forming in his mind. If it worked everything would be almost back to normal in Lazy Town and he would have his lair to himself once again.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day came and Robbie was preparing to put his plan in motion. He would get Sportacus to go up in his airship and while he was gone he would go and see the Mayor for an answer. Sportacus himself had thought long and hard about what he wanted to do. He would offer to leave if the Mayor wanted it. If his offer to leave was refused he would offer to be a fitness instructor for the town rather than a hero. After all, if all the kids were being fitness instructed they wouldn't get into trouble because he'd be playing with them all the time. He liked that idea and it was safe. He could use Robbie's uniform with the fake crystal to train the kids as he wouldn't need the crystal anymore because no one would get in trouble. Sportacus planned to go and see the Mayor before lunch or after when Robbie was having his nap. He hadn't discussed his plans with Robbie yet and wouldn't until he'd talked about them with the Mayor.

Robbie was helping himself to cake whilst Sportacus was eating fruit for breakfast. Both men sat in silence while eating as they were wont to do, Robbie because his mouth was always full and Sportacus because he was unlikely to get an answer apart from a grunt or grumble. He liked Robbie, he had never disliked him. His fondest wish was that Robbie would stop trying to get rid of him and would be his friend rather than an enemy. The past few days had made it far more likely that his wish would be granted, as much as Robbie had pushed him away a few times after letting him in he knew Robbie's feelings about him were changing. If Robbie didn't like him he could at least grow to tolerate him if he hadn't done already. Sportacus had a smile on his face as he mused over these things holding a half eaten apple in his hand when Robbie looked at him after eating.

"That's the first proper smile I've seen you smile for days. What's got you doing that?" Came Robbie's voice breaking through Sportacus' consciousness.

Sportacus looked at him and realised he'd probably been sitting there smiling for some time, "Nothing," he answered not wanting to discuss his musings with Robbie for fear of undoing the progress that had been made.

"Ok," Robbie replied dejectedly, "Do you think it would be a good idea for you to go up to your airship today?" Robbie asked changing the subject.

"I hadn't thought of it, why?"

"Well I remember that candy kid saying yesterday that he'd tried sending letters to you but you weren't there to receive them. Knowing how that kid can talk I'd suspect he can write just as much and your airship might be full of letters."

"You're right, now I think of it. I also have some tools to put away and need to tidy up a bit. I don't want to leave things in a mess for too long."

"That's a good idea. When you eventually go to live up there again it would be nice to go back to it clean and tidy."

"Would you want me to go live there again Robbie?" Came a short and nervous reply.

Robbie thought for a moment. Did he want Sportacus to leave him to live on his own? He'd have peace and quiet again and a nice comfy bed to sleep in. As much as he liked his solitude before the times he got lonely he was getting used to having Sportacus around and it wasn't as if the 'Blue Elf' was getting in his way.

"I don't know," Robbie answered finally.

He wouldn't admit to Sportacus that he was getting to like the idea of having Sportacus live there with him. He would see how he felt when he had executed his plan. Sportacus nodded and looked away for a second, puzzled at why he felt sad about Robbie not giving him a proper answer about staying.

"Well," Sportacus began, breaking the silence and looking at Robbie again, "I better get started with the airship. I'll see you when I get back?"

"Yeah, why not? If you're ok staying here a little while longer until you feel up to being alone again it's fine with me." Robbie assented.

Sportacus nodded and got up. He went up the pipe to the surface and headed for the airship. When Robbie was sure he'd gone he went over to the periscope and watched Sportacus climbing up the ladder to the airship. He couldn't believe how easy it was to get Sportacus to fall for that one. His first plan complete he himself went to the surface to see the Mayor.

The same impatient knock that been heard on the door the previous night was heard again and after looking at Bessie the Mayor went to answer the door. Robbie let himself in this time and sat straight down on a kitchen chair indicating he wouldn't leave until answer had been given to him. The Mayor hadn't discussed his plans with Bessie and she too was eager to hear the conclusion the Mayor had come to.

"I've decided," The Mayor drew in a deep breath unsure as to whether he'd made the right decision, "to let Sportacus have a second chance."

Bessie breathed a sigh of relief; she herself didn't blame Sportacus for the accident and hoped that anger hadn't clouded the Mayor's judgement.

"But," Came an addition from the Mayor, "If Sportacus should fail in his duty to save someone again he shall be banished from Lazy Town and never to return."

Both Robbie and Bessie agreed with these terms. Part two of Robbie's plans was complete and now he would put in motion part three, getting Sportacus' confidence in his abilities back. Robbie left the Mayor's house and got to work setting up part three of his plans.

Robbie climbed to the top of the billboard in front of the entrance of his lair. Several times on the way up to the top he'd mentally kicked himself and berated himself for being so foolhardy. Was it is his business trying to get Sportacus' confidence back? If Sportacus failed to save someone again he would have to leave forever, that was what Robbie had spent the last few years trying to do and it was more attainable than ever. He couldn't understand why he was offering himself up as bait rather than one of the kids, like all of his plans there were flaws in it no matter how much planning he did. Before he could change his mind about offering himself and getting a kid to the work for him instead it was too late, he was on the top of the billboard and feeling very frightened.

Sportacus spent his time in the airship thinking and tidying. He was startled by his crystal blaring, signalling trouble. Without a moment's hesitation he did what came naturally to him. He ran over to the door and called for it to open. He ran to the platform and drew out his telescope his gaze almost instantly falling on where the trouble was. Robbie was hanging onto one of the lights on the billboard shaking violently, Sportacus didn't think about why Robbie was up there he acted straight away. He ran straight back into the airship and piloted it closer to Robbie. Standing where the platform was he called "Platform" and it lowered. Robbie was still shaking and Sportacus wasted no time in jumping from the platform onto the billboard. Once he had got his balance he walked on his hands over to Robbie and checked he was ok.

"Just get me down from here!" Robbie wailed as Sportacus was about to ask him how and why he was on top of the billboard.

The sight of Sportacus' airship moving for the first time in days caused a lot of confusion and the Mayor, Bessie, Stingy, Ziggy, Pixel and Trixie followed where it had gone. They soon saw it was above Robbie's billboard and were surprised to see Sportacus up there with him executing a rescue.

"Sky chaser!" They heard Sportacus shout and out of the airship flew the sky chaser.

"Hang on to me Robbie," Sportacus instructed and with some difficulty Robbie obeyed.

Once he was sure that Robbie was holding on tightly enough he jumped landing perfectly on the sky chaser. Robbie screamed when Sportacus had jumped thinking he'd gone mad as he hadn't realised that Sportacus had called for the sky chaser. After a few moments both Robbie and Sportacus were safely on the ground. The kids applauded and Robbie instantly fell to the ground still shaking uncontrollably and kissed the ground over and over.

Once he was sufficiently calm Robbie stood up and looked at Sportacus, "I knew you could do it Sportakook,"

"Do what?" Sportacus asked confused.

"Save me. I know you were scared of saving people after what happened a couple of days ago so I thought a push was all you needed to get you back doing what you do."

"I did it. I saved you. I didn't think I could save anyone again, I didn't think about what happened to Stephanie at all, it just came automatically. But you got yourself in trouble deliberately? What if I couldn't have saved you Robbie?"

Robbie shook his head, "I guess the events of the other day would have been repeated and you would have had to leave Lazy Town. I took the liberty of talking to the Mayor for you and he agreed to let you stay one condition,"

"Which is?"

"That you don't fail again. I think I proved to everyone that it won't happen again."

"Thank you, Robbie." Sportacus was extremely touched by the gesture.

He didn't know what else to say and so he tried to hug Robbie but received a small hit in the stomach. He grunted in pain again and Robbie remembered that Sportacus' stomach was sore.

"Sorry, I forgot," he apologised.

"It's ok. Would you settle for a handshake?"

Robbie thought on this for a second and then stuck his hand out shaking Sportacus' hand. This drew more applause from the kids and the Mayor and Bessie applauded too.

The Mayor hadn't thought that Sportacus would get Robbie to the ground safely but was glad he had, Lazy Town's hero was back. Yes Stephanie hadn't been saved but the Mayor was glad of the prospect of other lives being saved. He and everyone would miss Stephanie and as time moved on things would eventually go back to almost normal.

The events of the last couple of days had changed the course of everyone's lives in Lazy Town in some way; Sportacus had made an unlikely friend in Robbie and Robbie had made an equally unlikely friend in Sportacus, the Mayor and Bessie had finally stopped dancing around each other and admitted how they felt about each other and the kids had lost a friend but their friendship with each other grew stronger than ever.

It's amazing what can happen in a split second isn't it?


End file.
